Ex-Beijing traffic chief on trial for allegedly taking US$3.7 million in bribes for prized Jing-A licence plates

A former head of Beijing’s transport authority has gone on trial accused of taking bribes worth over 23 million yuan (US$3.75 million) in return for issuing car registration plates.

Song Jianguo, 61, the ex-chief of the Beijing Transport Administration, has been charged at the Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court with taking kickbacks in the form of cash and real estate in return for supplying Jing-A plates – once available only to government and Communist Party organs – to individuals and companies.

Those he is alleged to have supplied the plates to include the controversial business tycoon Guo Wengui  and a government-controlled taxi operator in the capital.

Eleven people, including Song’s secretary Wang Fei, have already been sentenced for taking bribes in relation to the case.

Jing-A car plates – plates that start with the Chinese character for ‘Jing’ followed by the letter ‘A’ – were issued exclusively to government cars at a time when there were still few private vehicles in the city. After Beijing introduced a lottery system for car registration, Jing-A plates became a status symbol for car owners.

Mainland newspapers claimed today that Song had also been involved in approving the LED screens that hang from the Pangu Plaza, a luxury hotel owned by Guo that is located next to the ‘Bird’s Nest’ National Stadium.